What are the responsibilities and job description for the Production Manager position at Ciruli Brothers, LLC?
Reports To: Director of Operations
Direct Reports: Repack (Production) Supervisor, Data Entry Associate, and Repackers.
Position Summary: This role is responsible for planning, coordinating, and overseeing all production activities to ensure efficient, timely, and cost-effective manufacturing or packed product output. An effective Production Manager understands and evaluates key performance metrics, including inputs, outputs, units packed per minute, downtime, shrink, and unit cost. This role ensures that production goals are met while maintaining high standards of quality, operational safety, and HACCP compliance. The ideal candidate brings strong leadership, analytical, and organizational skills to drive continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Key Responsibilities
- Production Planning and Implementation
- Manage daily production schedules and overtime hours.
- Coordinate between the Repack Supervisor(s), Warehouse Foreman, and Organic Commodity Manager(s) to align over production goals and demand forecasts.
- Monitor production performance metrics / KPIs (e.g., throughput, yields, downtime, etc.) and adjust plans as needed.
- Oversee packing operations from a planning, people management, and cost management perspective.
- Stay informed of material and other production costs, implementing cost-savings initiatives where appropriate.
- Leadership
- Train, supervise and evaluate the Repack (Production) Supervisors, repack data entry associates, and the repacking staff.
- Foster a culture of responsibility, respect, safety, and continuous improvement.
- Process Development and Optimization
- Ensure packaging machinery is operating at optimum levels.
- Become familiar with the equipment’s capabilities, operations, and throughput rates.
- Develop packing processes and implement continuous process improvements.
- Quality Control and Compliance
- Ensure production team and activities support the organization’s food safety program (e.g., HACCP, GMPs, date coding, inventory rotation).
- Collaborate with compliance and operations teams on audits, issues resolution, and implementation of corrective actions.
- Maintain timely and accurate production records and documentation.
Minimum Qualifications
- Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s in Agriculture, Engineering, Business, or related field preferred.
- 5 years in production or operations management, preferably in a food packaging, perishable food manufacturing, or agricultural packaging facility.
- Strong leadership and planning skills.
- Experience leading teams in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
- Strong understanding of production planning, scheduling, and inventory control.
- Skills & Characteristics
- Strong leadership skills to coach, inspire, and effectively lead a diverse team.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills. Bilingual preferred.
- Comfortable with cross-functional coordination between operations, sourcing, and QC.
- Demonstrate problem-solving and solutions-based thinking.
- Analyze data to understand cost, yield, and quality metrics.
- Demonstrate an understanding of packaging equipment capabilities, operation, automation, and production planning.
- Technology
- Computer literacy and familiarity with ERP systems.
- Famous Software experience preferred.
- Proficient with use of MS office, especially Outlook and Excell.
- Other
- Must be able to work in the U.S.
- Able and willing to work extended hours, including weekends, on an alternating schedule.
- Be able to work with a computer while sitting or standing, sometimes for extended periods.
- Able to lift 15 lbs.